Seychelles Tourism Board hosts Chinese celebrity artiste Dilraba

The visit was supported also by the office of Mayor of Victoria and the Seychelles Embassy in Beijing.

Ms. Dilraba’s visit to the 115-island archipelago, coincided with her birthday celebrations in June. Constance Ephelia Seychelles and Six Senses Zil Payson supported her five-day stay on the tropical islands.

The multi-award winner, actress and model of Uyghur ethnicity has 52.3 million social media followers on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website. She is recognized as one of top 3 most influential celebrities on Chinese social media platforms.

Speaking about the impact of the project for the destination, Mrs. Sherin Francis STB Chief Executive expressed her delight that the STB team has been able to secure and materialize a project of that magnitude, which she said would not have been possible without the support of the various STB partners.

“The visibility generated out of this project cannot be compared to any paid campaign we would have executed on a mainstream media. It is indeed a big achievement for the market and the team who worked on the project,” said Mrs. Francis

To showcase the destination, a project was designed, where three episodes of ‘Travel, Feel the World’ - a travel lifestyle documentary - was filmed in Seychelles.

The project, which featured Ms. Dilraba, was titled ‘Dilraba feels Seychelles’ and was released exclusively on Sina Weibo in August. Close to 61.8 million people watched the series of videos advocating the laid-back lifestyle and natural environment of Seychelles.

Besides the video, STB also launched a hashtag campaign #DilrabaFeelsSeychelles to coincide with the airing of the episodes. The hashtag campaign had 153 million viewers and 20.43 million discussion on Sina Weibo platform.

STB’s Director for China Office, Mr. Jean-Luc Lai-Lam says that the Seychelles tourism board is delighted to have gained this opportunity with Ms. Dilraba. He explained that many other destinations with more budget are also competing for the artist’s attention.

“We have been very fortunate that a megastar with the global reach and appeal of Ms. Dilraba has been keen to work with us. Her enthusiasm and passion for Seychelles has been constant throughout the project,” said Mr. Lai-Lam.

He added that through Ms. Dilraba’s reach and profile, STB is aiming to continue to drive Seychelles awareness and visibility for Seychelles on the Chinese market that will translate to not only arrival numbers, but also higher value visitors.

Better known as Dilireba, Ms. Dilraba is one of the most in-demand brand ambassadors in China, mostly due the support she gives to international brands like Dolce & Gabanna, L’Oreal Paris and Mikimoto.